Winter Holiday AVOID Campaign Continues

Checkpoint Scheduled for Friday Evening

San Rafael, CA – December 21, 2011. The Winter Holiday Anti-DUI crackdown has resulted in a significant number of DUI arrests from local routine traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 13 DUI deployments during the past several days in Marin County.

From 12:01 AM Friday December 16, 2011 through Midnight Tuesday, December 20, 2011 officers representing all 13 county law enforcement agencies have arrested 27 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In 2010, 18 DUI arrests occurred during the same five day time period.

For this second weekend of the campaign a DUI/Driver’s license checkpoint will be conducted in the city of San Rafael. The checkpoint will be set up on Grand Avenue at East Francisco Boulevard and operate in both directions. It starts at 6:00 p.m. and may relocate later in the evening to northbound Irwin Street at Fifth Avenue. Grand Avenue and East Francisco Boulevard are major arterial roadways that lead in to and out of San Rafael’s busy downtown. The location was selected for it’s proximity to the area’s bars, restaurants, and shopping. Additionally, the Canal neighborhood south of the location has experienced a high percentage of DUI-involved collisions over the past year. The California Highway Patrol will also be deploying all available officers during their Maximum Enforcement Period this holiday weekend; Friday 6 PM through midnight Monday.

All regularly scheduled traffic and patrol officers will focus efforts at stopping and arresting DUI drivers during their normal shifts. Multiple DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoints, Multi Agency DUI Task Force operations and local Roving DUI patrols are all part of this Bay Area- wide effort during the 17 day Winter Holiday Campaign.

Police, Sheriff and the CHP encourage all motorists to help make the holidays safer: Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911. DUI arrest data collection will continue through New Year’s Weekend, midnight Sunday, January 1, 2012. Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.